Baltimore Orioles Magic is Back, on Big Screen

(Don't miss our Orioles Magic Ringtone, MP3, and the new Kevin Millar video on our homepage at http://orioles-magic.blogspot.com)...

BALTIMORE - Dennis Sarfate and George Sherrill strummed guitars as Jeremy Guthrie and Kevin Millar alternated clutching the microphone, while Adam Jones banged on the drums and Adam Loewen pounded the keyboard.

The six Orioles, whose team just swept a two-game series from the Boston Red Sox, entertained the crowd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as stars in the team’s music video on the JumboTron.

The Orioles’ video, which is set to the iconic tune of “Orioles Magic,” is played after every home victory as players congratulate each other on the diamond.

The reason for the video, which features players wearing goofy hats? Simple. It’s all good fun — something the club has been lacking during 10 straight losing seasons.

Francona out 2 games after mother-in-law's death “Sometimes I feel like I'm managing seventh period P.E. That's where they put all the high-maintenance guys,” Manager Dave Trembley said after Wednesday's win. “You see all these guys walking off the field with their hats up [to mimic Sherrill’s now-infamous flat-billed cap], you know what I'm dealing with.”

Since the video was taped, the Orioles are 2-0 at home. After 40 games, the team many predicted to be among the worst in baseball is 21-19 — just two games out of first place entering a three-game series against the visiting Washington Nationals (17-24), which begins tonight at 7:05.

Trembley acknowledges he's having fun as the Orioles have reached the quarter pole in his first full year as a manager. His team almost looks more comfortable atop the dugout than it does inside it.

Guthrie — a Justin Timberlake fan — and Millar — a fan of hard rock and country music — looked secure in their roles.

“I was sober, although you might think I wasn't,” Guthrie said with a smile. “We felt like it would be fun. I really do feel like there is a little bit of magic going. We've had some good wins, so why not do it? If the fans like it, even better.”

Sherrill said he’s never played in instrument, and when asked who came up with the idea for the video he said: “I'll let you guess.”

The answer, of course, is resident rock star/comedian Kevin Millar — he of the 2004 Red Sox “Cowboy Up” fame, and the subject of a Red Sox once featuring a video with Millar doing a karaoke version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”

The “Oriole Magic” theme’s roots date to the late 70s, and the new video has vintage clips of the 1983 World Series, “Wild Bill” Hagy leading cheers at Memorial Stadium and the original team video in 1986, which featured Eddie Murray, Rick Dempsey, Mike Boddicker, Rich Bordi and trainer Ralph Salvon jamming to “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger.

“I think there's an Academy Award waiting,” Millar said about the new video. “We should be out buying tuxedoes right now. We're going to be on the red carpet.”